Canine Raw

Canine Raw refers to the diet pattern containing raw, uncooked and unprocessed food for Canines or Canids (carnivorous mammals). The reasoning behind the promotion and use of a canine raw diet is due to the internal and external digestion pattern of the domesticated pets.  The existence of incisors, a large straight intestine and other traits of canines, are comparable to the characteristics of their ancestors who thrived on a raw diet.  This provides a debatable option to most pet owners of choosing to opt between a canine raw diet or processed pet food. 

Canine Raw Diets mainly came into focus due to cases of degenerative health conditions in pets which were on processed pet feed, contradicting the nutritional health claims of the feed manufacturer. Of key importance is the 2007 pet food recalls, which led to the alarming number of 3,600 pet deaths due to the use of the particular product by Menu Foods, a Canadian Pet Feed Company.

Canine Raw Diets are of many types but the most popular models are the BARF model and the Prey Model.  BARF is the acronym for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food or Bones and Raw Food, developed by an Australian veterinary surgeon   Dr Ian Billinghurst. The composition of BARF is essentially 80% of bones with meat and 20% of fruits, vegetables, offal, eggs, diary food.                  The Prey Model attempts to duplicate the structure of an actual Prey , i.e. head, internal organs, bones, and even minute quantities of fur, feathers and grains. Some even add a portion of fish oil to this composition to compensate for the lack of omega 3 fatty acid.

Canine Raw Diets are still being studied for their importance on the physical developmental function, in comparison to processed food.  In the case of raw food, bones and teeth development and maintenance were observed to be better in the case of Canines who consumed them, in comparison to those who didn’t. To counteract the declaration by pet feed manufacturers, that processed food is nutritionally balanced and appropriately constructed based on the pet, there is the occurrence of artificial addition of vitamins, and other nutrients as these are not heat stable and are lost during the process of cooking.  It is viewed by many that a proportionally balanced raw diet(even though nutritionally low) is better than the artificial nutrients obtained via pet feed.

Some of the major reasons behind the non-usage of the canine raw diet are as follows:

-          Lack of information of the amounts and proportions of particular foods in the various categories

-          Exhaustive choice of varied raw meats and vegetables

-          The correct method to effect the switch to a canine raw diet, if not followed from the beginning

It always seems far simpler to buy a serving of pet feed, than to undergo the entire hassle of combining and working out the right balanced diet plan. This also seems to be the key factor behind the successful existence of the numerous pet feed manufacturers. There also exist many controversies that veterinarians are provided with nutritional training that is mainly sponsored by pet feed manufacturers.